The end of a long week

I don’t think I need to explain to anyone why last week was probably one of the longest of my life. Bashir’s death was a huge shock to all of us and something it will take time for us all to come to terms with. It’s not the way anyone would choose to come into an elected position and dealing with that has been character building to say the least.

I have been incredibly lucky to have received so much support from members of the SNP and other friends and family, all of them acknowledging the tragic circumstances, all of them sensitive enough to know that this is not something to be celebrated and all of them being supportive and encouraging.

The greatest strength however has been drawn from Bashir’s family – his wife, his 5 girls and his 2 boys. I barely know them but in the time I’ve spent with them this week, I have seen Bashir’s generosity of spirit in each and every one of them. We’ll keep in touch and I look forward to getting to know them better. And I hope, in some way, I can repay them for the kindness they’ve shown me in one of the worst week’s of all of their lives, a week when nobody would’ve minded if they’d thought of themselves. Because of them, I can move on and focus on representing the people of Glasgow to the best of my ability. I won’t forget that and I will never forget Bashir Ahmad.

Bashir's legacy

Seeing as my stats for this blog have quadrupled and then some (what's the word for a 5 fold increase again?) I thought I'd better write something.

Sometimes in politics, something happens to remind us all that we are more than just the parties we belong to. Something that reminds us of what we are - not just nationalists, socialists, conservatives, greens, or whatever else you identify yourself with, but human beings.

Bashir Ahmad's death and the reaction to it from across the parties is one of those things. It serves as one of those reminders. I confess, from time to time, I forget. I get so caught up in the combative nature of politics and the absolute belief that my party has got it right, that I forget that lots of these other people are good people too ~ we just disagree about how to make our country a better place for our people to live.

I doubt Bashir ever forgot that. I know I can't do him justice in this - maybe one day but right now it's too raw. All I will say is that he was a lovely man. You'll read that over and over again and it's because it's true. He never once failed to make me smile because he was just such a kind, polite, funny man. I only ever heard him say good things about people whatever they believed. He even effortlessly tolerated people who didn't believe in Independence, Bashir's main raison d'etre.

I think that's why the response has been the same across the parties. Of course when a politician dies, all parties say nice things but you can see the difference here. Many different people came to the funeral and they were genuinely upset, I've seen posts on blogs eg there's one on Tartan Hero's blog from Stephen Purcell, Labour Leader in Glasgow, I've had some myself. Everyone is shocked and saddened by Bashir's passing away. Our political opponents will know how devastated we all are and they've been very kind about Bashir, and very respectful towards us - certainly in my personal experience.

As I said, it's a reminder that although I may believe in Independence and you may believe in the Union, we still hurt the same, we still love the same, and we still care the same. (I'm still right about Independence mind you.)

Bashir is pictured here during the Glasgow East by-election with John Mason, now MP and "Oscar" a Plaid Cymru Assembly Member.

The end of one of the saddest ever days

For those who don't yet know.